I think I've got it. Rinne means groove. So perhaps the word that looks like Rine is actually Rinne, not eine. (Maybe an "n" with a bar over it indicates "nn".) If that's the case, then it says to insert the needle with the long groove facing the wheel.
Edit: The bar above the n may be a "macron".
From wikipedia (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macron):
"In the German Kurrent handwriting, a macron is used on some consonants, especially n and m, as a shortform for a double consonant (for example,
n̄ instead of
nn).'"
How I figured this out: I thought that the groove should face the right, so I looked up the German word for groove.
And I'm right that you already knew which way the groove should face!